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{
"id": 1589558,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1589558/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Eric Theuri",
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"content": "This is further supported by the testimonies of the witnesses, which will be found at Volume No.2 of the Governor's response at page 14, where we have the affidavit of Salad Boru Guracha, who was the Clerk of the Assembly, who confirms that there was no sitting of the Assembly on either date. There is an affidavit by the Leader of Majority, Jiba Ali, at pages 41 to 45, who confirms there was no sitting of the House Business Committee (HBC) to deliberate and set out the Order Papers. Further, we have the affidavit of Shaban Mzungu, who was in charge of security at the Assembly on that particular day, and he confirms that there was no sitting of the Assembly. Hon. Speaker and Senators, we expect that the Assembly will try to persuade you that the issues we raise are not preliminary and they require a full evidentiary hearing. Allow me to refer you to the Assembly's submissions on the preliminary objection, because they have filed submissions and they have courted a decision. Jurisprudence from the courts is that a preliminary question is determined on the presumption that the facts pleaded are true. The facts that we are raising are the facts that have been pleaded by the Assembly. That preliminary issue, when determined, may as well as dispose of the suit. It is for that reason that we raise it as a preliminary issue, because if this honorable House was to find that there was no sitting of the Assembly, then we cannot proceed with the hearing of the impeachment Motion. So, we submit that these questions that we have raised satisfy this threshold, and we invite the Senate to look at the facts that have been pleaded by the Assembly and the documents that have been provided, and agree with us that this is a case of a phantom impeachment. Finally, with one eye on the clock, we submit that this is a hallowed process. It is not just about whether the grounds set out in Article 181 of the Constitution have been met. If the Senate is to examine whether there was a valid resolution and agree with us that the documents that have been presented are forged and cooked, this phantom impeachment amounts to an affront on the Constitution. It sets a very dangerous precedent because it means that it is possible for the Speaker and a few Members of a rogue Assembly to, in a way, attempt a coup, sit somewhere, cook documents and present it to the Senate, and the Senate will then hear that matter. That, in itself, will be a violation of the Constitution, because this Senate has a mandate to protect devolution and the counties. That is the danger that we face in these phantom impeachment proceedings. Hon. Senators, the impeachment proceedings not only put the Governor on trial. It does the same for the Constitution, the Senate, Members of the County Assembly, for the witnesses, for the lawyers on either side, and ultimately, the Kenyan people. It is our humble submission that the Kenyan people vested the power of impeachment in the Senate, because they expected that the Senators had special qualities, numbers and temperament to rise to the occasion, and we urge this House to rise to that occasion. Finally, before I cede ground to my fellow Counsel, allow me to just remind you of the words of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the American Constitution, on the power and the question of impeachment. Hamilton explained that the Senators were seen as the ideal arbiters in an impeachment process, because the Senate would be a The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}